More than a decade after Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in the Arizona desert, one of the men convicted in connection with his death is appealing his case, arguing that a lack of evidence challenges his first-degree murder conviction.
Manuel Osorio-Arellanes is representing himself.
He claimed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the government failed to present ballistic evidence or other proof linking him to the fatal shots. Osorio-Arellanes argues that the government failed to properly investigate and says that he didn’t fire his weapon during the encounter.
He pleaded guilty and was convicted of first-degree murder in 2015.
Following the 2010 shootout that led to Terry’s death, weapons involved in the botched "Fast and Furious" operation were later found at the scene. The murder brought attention to the scheme, which involved federal agents losing track of firearms they sent into criminal organizations.
Earlier this month, a federal appeals court overturned the first degree murder conviction of Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes.
In Manuel’s case, a judge will set a deadline for the state to respond to his claims before making a decision.
